According to Eunha Kim and co-authors, Hwa-Byung is a Korean anger syndrome unique to Korean culture, described as a psychological disorder associated with problematic family relationships among middle-aged women. What I lament is that the expression of strong emotions—by Korean women presently, and in Western countries historically—has been characterized by mental health practitioners as illness. While I understand that the roles that frustrate Korean women may be unique, it is perhaps not so unusual for women to become frustrated, depressed, and angry at this stage of life, and for others to think we are either crazy or bewitched when we tell them why we feel this way. Alas, we used to note that men labeled us as mentally ill, but now it is apparent that we are also labeling ourselves. I grouped the Kim manuscript in a collection of articles that are connected with menopause, because the average age of participants in Kim's study was 52, and in many studies of menopause, researchers also discuss knowledge and attitudes in terms of anger or frustration, accompanied by physical symptoms for which women don't seek help.
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